First off, Sim schools recruit everyone as if they are 250 miles away, so you're actually at a distance disadvantage here. .

The home/away preference is extremely minimal and everything else would have to be practically identical before it would really have a significant bearing on matters. I don't know what the exact value of that preference is, but I would guess most would say it is worth less than an SV. It's honestly one of those things I completely ignore, just like height and weight. Also, I don't think his close/far from home preference would apply here because, at 400 miles, you're not within the definition of "close" either -- you're closER, but to the game you aren't within the definition of "close" and I don't think there's any credit given for "closer."

The biggest thing here is that the recruit is "very solid" with the Sim. It is going to take a significant amount of effort to sway this kid your direction. If you have enough, you can get the player, but it will not be cheap (I want to say it took 8 HV's, 3 SV's and a 10 minute promise the last time I went after a solid, but that was with a distance advantage to me). Assess your options and proceed accordingly.

One final thing -- if you're going to go for it, you'd be better served using campus visits. At 400 miles, you get more bang for the buck with the CV than you will the HV.

Posted by blackdog3377 on 4/10/2013 11:32:00 AM (view original):I believe, but correct me if Im wrong, that the close to home preference only kicks in within 300 miles.

That was the number in the back of my mind as well blackdog. Like I said, it's really not something I pay any attention to because I just haven't seen an indication that it plays that big a deal in the scope of things. If the kid would rather play away from home, his proximity to me makes it cheap to throw any money needed to compensate for the effect at him. If he's far, chances are I'm only after him because nobody else is (or the other person is equally far...) so no harm there.

Posted by jsajsa on 4/10/2013 10:47:00 AM (view original):At DIII, never bother when a recruit is "very solid" with a sim.

I agree with this. You could spend all of your money and not get them. If they are open to other offers, you can get them

I disagree, saying never is going too far. Of course it's risky and can be quite expensive..but that can actually be a nice way to find great players that others are staying away from. D2 sim with "very solid" would have to be completely ideal conditions (i.e. distance, open spots) for me to move in. But if I really want the player and it's a D3 sim that's "very solid", then simmy can suck it. It's worth 25 HVs to put that recruit-stealing ****** in his place.

Posted by jsajsa on 4/10/2013 10:47:00 AM (view original):At DIII, never bother when a recruit is "very solid" with a sim.

I agree with this. You could spend all of your money and not get them. If they are open to other offers, you can get them

I disagree, saying never is going too far. Of course it's risky and can be quite expensive..but that can actually be a nice way to find great players that others are staying away from. D2 sim with "very solid" would have to be completely ideal conditions (i.e. distance, open spots) for me to move in. But if I really want the player and it's a D3 sim that's "very solid", then simmy can suck it. It's worth 25 HVs to put that recruit-stealing ****** in his place.

Sure if you have $10,000 laying around and you don't mind having three walk-ons. Or if you are in one of the big four conferences in DIII wooden and you have a TON of extra recruiting cash. But, in general, I tend to stamp my feet and pout a little when I see my prized target is very tight with simmy, then I go in a different direction and blow my cash on another battle and still end up with a couple walk-ons. Yup, I should mention I'm not very good at this recruiting thing

yeah. i agree with milwood. that player was good and all, but I can't afford to throw my entire budget at him. I almost spent 2k on him as it is... 2k down the drain because he'd rather play for a crappy Sim team in Massachusetts than for what will be a conference champ team coached by me in mizzou. his loss.

this recruiting has been a rough one thanks to simmy lover and an early battle I entered with conference folk. I am planning on one walk-on for sure and crossing my fingers that it wont be two.

follow-up question... does anyone have the concrete stats of how walk-ons affect player development? 2 walk-ons hurt player improvement, yes? How about just one?

Taking one w/o has zero impact. Taking two w/o supposedly has minimal impact but I've done it dozens of times and have never seen a difference. Now, once you get to three or more then you will likely start to see some impact but even then it's not a big deal. What is more critical than the impact on player development with 3+ w/o is that you may start to see some increased fatigue issues with your scholarship players. This is more true with FB and/or Press but, depending on your player's Stamina, it could become an issue with other O&Ds. Some coaches have had success running 7 or 8 man rotations but by and large they are experienced coaches who know how to compensate for their limited rosters. So, taking two w/o is not a problem but taking three or more may be cause for concern.

Your methods may vary, but I find simmy to be a WAY WAY better target than human coaches. And part of the issue is recognizing when a player is worth spending most of your budget on. Some players are absolutely worth that, and you might need to sign multiple players for cheap if you go that route.

milwood, no offense intended, but if you have the attitude that you can't compete with the "big conferences", then that's exactly what will happen. Anyone with 4+ open spots can have $10k+ to spend.

Posted by Weena on 4/11/2013 1:25:00 AM (view original):Taking one w/o has zero impact. Taking two w/o supposedly has minimal impact but I've done it dozens of times and have never seen a difference. Now, once you get to three or more then you will likely start to see some impact but even then it's not a big deal. What is more critical than the impact on player development with 3+ w/o is that you may start to see some increased fatigue issues with your scholarship players. This is more true with FB and/or Press but, depending on your player's Stamina, it could become an issue with other O&Ds. Some coaches have had success running 7 or 8 man rotations but by and large they are experienced coaches who know how to compensate for their limited rosters. So, taking two w/o is not a problem but taking three or more may be cause for concern.

very good summary of the walkon situation :) i always say, just ignore the practice impact, as its roughly negligible compared to other factors. either you want walkons to get extra money to recruit with, or you don't, to avoid the depth issues and such - those are the key issues which you must balance.

speaking of recruiting and walkons... have any of you received this message? and what can you tell me about it?Thanks for the call coach. I'm a little busy right now, but I am interested in Webster and would like to talk to you again before I make my final decision.

No offense taken. I'm in the midwest in Wooden. I suppose I should have included a smiley winky face

I meant no attitidue. My apologies.

When I do my initial recruiting I always hope that a simmy is on one of my top targets because it is an easy battle to win. I just don't have the courage to take on a "very tight" recruit. I may just reconsider that.